Dear Shelley Moorhead,
We wish to bring our sincere and heartfelt apology for Denmark's participation in the brutal slavery, not the least for the atrocious child slavery and for the slave trade.
Below we link to mails we have previously sent out concerning the West Indies
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/juli/06-07-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/maj/05-05-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/maj/22-05-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/juni/20-06-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/oktober/29-10-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/oktober/30-10-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2015/maj/19-05-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/juni/22-06-2016
Kind regards Daniela Skov and Lars Skov Krøgholt.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Lars Skov Krøgholt <lkrogholt@gmail.com>
Date: 2017-03-11 0:36 GMT+01:00
Subject: Danish and English. Det er utrolig skamfuldt på Danmarks vegne, at vor Statsminister Lars Løkke Rasmussen ikke rejser ud til de Vestindiske Øer sidst på måneden med det specifikke formål at overbringe en oprigtig og dybfølt undskyldning fra den danske stat, såvel som på vegne af hele nationen Danmark, for vor deltagelse i det brutale slaveri og i slavehandlen. Ja, for at påføre børn et liv i brutalt slaveri. Kan det tænkes at den manglende undskyldning skyldes, at der fra officielt hold er en frygt for, at der måtte være en forventning til Danmark om en medfølgende økonomisk konsekvens sammen med en mundtlig undskyldning?
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Deres Majestæt!
Your Holiness Pope Francis
Dear Mosaisk Troessamfund
Dear Muslimsk Trossamfund
Dear STATSMINISTER, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Dear Secretary of Culture and Church Mette Bock
Dear Bishop Henrik Stubkjær
Dear Artist La Vaughn Belle - http://www.lavaughnbelle.com.
Dear President of USA Donald Trump
Dear Prime Minister of Great Britain Theresa May
Dear Bundeskanzlerin of Germany Angela Merkel
Dear Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu
Dear Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter Charles Paire O'Neill
Dear Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key
Dear Prime Minister of Australia Hon Malcolm Turnbull
Artikel fra Politiken
http://politiken.dk/kultur/art5863591/Jeg-mener-faktisk-alle-burde-sige-undskyld
Kunstner fra St. Croix til danskerne: Jeg mener faktisk, alle burde sige undskyld
Danmark bør gøre op med sit »koloniale hukommelsestab« og sin slavefortid, mener kunstneren La Vaughn Belle fra St. Croix, som nu åbner en soloudstilling i København. Det er nødvendigt, at vi heler fortidens traumer, siger hun. For ellers får de lov til at påvirke nutiden.
KULTUR9. MAR. 2017 KL. 09.40
Efter kraftige regnskyl kommer de frem. Af jorden, på stranden, i rendestenen. Gamle skår af hvidt porcelæn med blå blomster. Små musselmalede levn fra kolonitiden, fra dengang de tre caribiske øer Saint Croix, Saint Thomas og Saint John var under dansk koloniherredømme.
Skårene er det, der er tilbage af det fine porcelæn, danske plantageejere fra slutningen af 1700-tallet fik sejlet til deres store huse på sukkerplantagerne, så de kunne spise standsmæssigt, mens slavegjorte kvinder, mænd og børn knoklede på markerne udenfor. Under brutale, umenneskelige forhold.
Chaney kalder de lokale skårene – en blanding af de engelske ord for porcelæn, china, og penge, money, for tidligere samlede børnene på øerne porcelænsstykkerne og brugte dem som legepenge.
LEDGERS FROM A LOST KINGDOM
Udstillingen ’Ledgers From a Lost Kingdom’ af La Vaughn Belle åbner fredag 10. marts.
Den kan ses på udstillingsstedet Meter, Henrik Rungs Gade 25, Kbh N. frem til 17. juni
Det fortæller kunstneren La Vaughn Belle, der bor på Saint Croix, og som hun bruger i sin kunst.
»De er overalt. Og det er en virkelig interessant metafor for koloniseringen. Små fortællinger, der bliver ved med at vende tilbage. Som om de aldrig nogensinde har tænkt sig at forsvinde«.
La Vaughn Belle er i Danmark for at forberede sin soloudstilling ’Ledgers From a Lost Kingdom’, der åbner i morgen på udstillingsstedet Meter på Nørrebro. Hun skal også deltage i en række andre udstillinger, arrangementer og debatter i forbindelse med 100-året for salget af Dansk Vestindien til USA, og nu sidder hun og jeg i et hvidmalet arbejdsrum i Statens Værksteder for Kunst, som hun har fået stillet til rådighed.
Det er tredje gang, La Vaughn Belle er i Danmark. Og de tre ophold har givet hende oplevelsen af et land, der stadig er præget af koloniale tankegange.
I modsætning til jer har vi ikke mulighed for at glemme de 250 år, da øerne var dansk koloni. Den tid påvirker ethvert aspekt af vores liv
La Vaughn Belle mener, at alle danskere bør tage et opgør med fortiden. Hun stiller ingen krav til nogen, men hun mener, at det ville være passende, hvis vi siger undskyld for Danmarks deltagelse i slaveriet og kolonitiden i Caribien.
I sin kunst er La Vaughn Belle fascineret af, hvordan koloniale værktøjer og strukturer kan blive transformeret, så de kan blive brugt til at gøre modstand, fortæller hun.
»Porcelænet er et symbol for rigdom. Oprørerne gik ind i de store huse og smadrede porcelænet og alle de fine ting, som plantageejerne havde købt for penge, de havde tjent på de slavegjortes arbejde. Så den fortælling ligger også i det«.
Om hendes hals hænger en halskæde med et vedhæng af sølv og træ. Det er en kniv som dem, de slavegjorte markarbejdere brugte til at hugge sukkerrør med i plantagerne. Og som samtidig var de knive, de slavegjorte arbejdere brugte som våben, når de gjorde modstand.
Første gang La Vaughn Belle var i Danmark, i 2008, besøgte hun Royal Copenhagens hus på Strøget. Her fandt hun en kronologisk udstilling af historiske porcelænstallerkener, der gik helt tilbage til 1700-tallet.
Foto: Jens Dresling
La Vaughn Belle har i sin kunst brugt de små stykker kolonialt porcelæn, der dukker op af jorden på De Amerikanske Jomfruøer efter regnskyl.
»I det øjeblik forstod jeg, at de her stykker porcelæn, jeg havde kendt til siden min barndom i 1980’erne på Saint Croix, var stykker af en større historie. Det var en overvældende oplevelse, og den fik mig til at tænke på, hvordan vi i Caribien hverken har adgang til vores fulde afrikanske, europæiske eller oprindelige befolknings identitet. Det, vi har, er fragmenter. Som vi har været nødt til at sætte sammen for at skabe i et nyt samfund«.
På udstillingen viser La Vaughn Belles værker, der udspringer af tanken om, hvordan man kan skabe alternative måder at dokumentere historien på. Da Danmark solgte kolonien Dansk Vestindien til USA i 1917, tog vi alle vores dokumenter med os.
»Vores arkiver blev taget. Mine kunstværker er modarkiver, alternative måder at huske på. Som også dokumenterer de ting i historien, der er blevet fortiet i de koloniale arkiver, for eksempel historierne om modstand«.
Dansk kolonial tankegang
Under sine tre besøg i Danmark har det chokeret La Vaughn Belle, hvor lidt danskere ved om den tid, da vi var koloniherrer i Caribien. Vi lider som nation af et »kolonialt hukommelsestab«, siger hun.
»Når jeg møder folk og fortæller, jeg er fra Saint Croix, er der mange, der ikke engang ved, hvad det er. I kender ikke til historien«, siger hun.
Og det er ikke kun hos almindelige danskere, hun oplever hukommelsestabet. Også institutionerne svigter, siger hun.
»Første gang jeg var på Nationalmuseet, var jeg faktisk chokeret. Det er jo der, I fortæller jeres nationale historie. Og så putter I 250 års historie i tre små vitrineskabe? Det her er virkelig en del af historien, som I mangler at forholde jer til«.
Sidste år lavede Videnskab.dk en aprilsnar, hvor magasinet skrev, at på grund af en særlig klausul på salgstraktaten ville Danmark kunne købe Dansk Vestindien tilbage i forbindelse med 100-året for salget til USA. Som er i år.
»Da jeg var i Danmark sidste sommer, var der flere, der refererede til den aprilsnar og sagde: »Jeg tror faktisk, at vi har tænkt os at købe jer tilbage«. De var hoppet på joken, troede, det var rigtigt«, fortæller La Vaughn Belle.
»Jeg fik det sådan: Undskyld, købe hvem? Hvem er det, du har tænkt dig at købe? Hvad skulle dog berettige dig til det? Den frækhed, den arrogance, den overlegenhed, det er udtryk for, den er virkelig fornærmende. Det viste mig, hvordan mange danskere stadig er præget af en kolonial tankegang. Ellers ville det være umuligt at tænke sådan«.
Sidste fredag deltog La Vaughn Belle i en debat, der blandt andet handlede om indvandring og integration i Danmark. Det var en øjenåbner for hende, siger hun.
»Jeg kunne forstå af debatten, at mange i Danmark tror, integration handler om, at de mennesker, der kommer hertil, skal blive ligesom jer. De skal tilpasse sig. Det er en tankegang, der er centreret omkring dansk kultur som overlegen. Men hør her, et møde mellem mennesker går begge veje. Når du og jeg sidder her over for hinanden, bør vi flytte hinanden«.
Oprørerne gik ind i de store huse og smadrede porcelænet og alle de fine ting
Erkendelsen af slavetiden
La Vaughn Belle mener, det ville være godt for alle danskere at besøge øerne i Caribien, hvor hun bor.
»I modsætning til jer har vi ikke mulighed for at glemme de 250 år, da øerne var dansk koloni. Den tid påvirker ethvert aspekt af vores liv. Historien er umulig at glemme. Fra de danske navne på byerne, til hvis du er nede på stranden og kigger op sukkerplantagerne, der ligger som ruiner«, siger hun.
»Og vi er stadig koloniale borgere. Vi er amerikanere, men ikke rigtige amerikanere. Mine børn går i folkeskole, hvor de lærer mere om amerikansk historie end om Jomfruøernes egen historie. Vi har arvet et kolonialt politisk system, der fungerer dårligt, og som gør det svært at forbedre tingene. Der er så mange aspekter af vores samfund, der ikke virker«.
Under det første besøg i Danmark var det et ganske andet samfund, der mødte hende.
»Jeg tænkte: Hov, vent, alting fungerer her!
Sundhedssystemet, uddannelsessystemet, jeres transportsystem. De vestlige lande har udnyttet ressourcer over hele verden og været i stand til at bygge et meget komfortabelt samfund. Og samtidig oplever jeg den her manglende vilje til at anerkende, hvordan I kom hertil. Det var ikke bare jeres arbejde, det var flere hundred års undertvingelse og udnyttelse af andre mennesker og deres ressourcer«.
Det, som La Vaughn Belle oplever som et kolonialt hukommelsestab og fortrængning, vidner om et land, der ligger langt fra det Danmark, vi selv ønsker at se os som, siger hun.
»Danmark projicerer et billede af sig selv som et progressivt land, et videnskabeligt land og et retfærdigt land. I har en overbevisning om, at I som nation gør ting, fordi det er det rigtige at gøre. Men vil det så ikke være det rigtige at anerkende, at I har skadet nogen i fortiden?«.
La Vaughn Belle forstod selv for første gang, at hun var efterkommer efter slavegjorte afrikanere, da hun som 12-årig læste bogen ’Roots’ af Alex Haley.
»Den bog fik mig til at forstå, hvorfor min familie var havnet her i Caribien. Og det var en sorg for mig. Jeg græd, så øjnene var ved at trille ud af hovedet på mig, mens jeg tænkte på de mænd og kvinder før mig, der har været slavegjorte og ufrie. Jeg kunne mærke deres smerte. En smerte, jeg ikke vidste var i mig«.
Verden af hvidhed
Hendes forældre talte ikke om slaveriet, da hun var barn og voksede op på Saint Croix, hvor hendes forældre var flyttet til fra Trinidad og Tobago, da hun var helt lille. Men i skolen fik hun en lærer, en hvid amerikaner, der på gulvet i klasselokalet tegnede den snævre plads, slaverne var tildelt om bord på slaveskibene fra Afrika. Derefter bad han børnene om at lægge sig, skulder ved skulder, og bare mærke det rum. Og så forestille sig, hvordan det ville være at ligge der i flere måneder uden at kunne bevæge sig. Oplevelsen satte sig i hende som en dyb erkendelse.
Selv om La Vaughn Belle igennem sin årelange kunstneriske praksis har beskæftiget sig meget med koloniseringen og racisme, er hendes egne døtre på 8, 6 og 4 stadig påvirket af fortiden, siger hun. Familien bor i en forstad til Christiansted på Saint Croix, i et område, hvor der er flest sorte indbyggere. Alligevel har hun oplevet, at døtrene har grædt over deres krøllede hår.
»Det er nogle af de ting, man går igennem som sort barn. Man ønsker sig, at éns næse var anderledes, at éns hud var lys, at éns krop var anderledes. Man internaliserer det hierarki mellem racerne, som blev etableret i fortiden. Og når jeg ser mine døtre tænke sådan – det er så svært for mig«.
På samme måde som La Vaughn Belle som kunstner selv har dykket ned i historien, mener hun, at danskere har behov for at se vores fortid som slaveejere i øjnene.
»Jeg mener selvfølgelig, at den danske regering skal sige undskyld for slaveriet og kolonitiden. Det er på sin plads. Men altså, jeg mener faktisk, alle burde sige undskyld. Jeg mener, alle bør gøre det arbejde inden i sig selv, så fortidens traumer kan blive helet, og nutiden kan sættes fri fra dem«.
Mange mener ikke, at vi skal sige undskyld for noget, der skete for mange år siden?
»Nej, men det er, fordi de ikke kan se, at kolonitiden stadig påvirker den verden, vi lever i. Med dens uretfærdigheder og ulige strukturer. Verden er centreret omkring hvidhed og vestlig kultur. Stadigvæk. Og I har også brug for heling. For det er den samme brutale tankegang, der kan gøre muliggøre slavetidens brutalitet, som, tror jeg, påvirker jeres forhold til indvandrere i dag. Det er sådan, jeg ser det«, siger hun.
»Danmark udførte nogle handlinger i fortiden, der virkelig har været skadelige. Og som stadig skader. Det naturlige er en undskyldning«.
Okay. Så vil jeg gerne sige undskyld over for dig, mens vi sidder her. Jeg vil gerne undskylde for Danmarks deltagelse i slaveriet og slavehandlen.
La Vaughn Belle ser ned i bordet, der er imellem os. Så siger hun roligt:
»Jeg accepterer din undskyldning«.
Bagefter er stemningen forandret.
Tror du, det er med til at hele vores fælles historiske fortid, at jeg har sagt undskyld?
»Ved du hvad, jeg har faktisk aldrig oplevet før, at nogen gjorde det direkte til mig«.
Det var heller ikke noget, jeg havde forberedt.
»Ja, jeg tror, det er med til at hele. Altså, det føltes som en oprigtig anerkendelse. Det blev jo som en scene med mig og dig her. Jeg følte, at du havde lyttet til det, jeg havde at sige – og at du kunne se den smerte, jeg har talt om. For jeg kunne se den samme smerte i dine øjne. Og jeg tror, det er de møder, vi har brug for for at ændre tingene«, siger La Vaughn Belle.
»Hør her, når min datter ser ud i verden, spørger hun mig: »Mor, hvorfor viser de aldrig billeder af mennesker, der ser ud som mig?«. Hun vil være model og kan ikke se nogen, der har krøllet hår som hendes. Hvad svarer jeg hende? Fordi de ikke synes, du er smuk? Det kan jeg jo ikke sige til hende, hun er 8 år gammel! Men jeg behøver heller ikke fortælle hende det, for hun ved det godt«.
Mens vi har talt sammen, har skårene fra en håndfuld blåhvide chaney ligget på bordet. Som små fortællinger om en fortid, der bliver ved med at dukke op.
La Belle Vaughn sukker.
»Når folk siger, kolonialismen er noget, der hører til i fortiden, siger jeg: »Undskyld, men har du set ud i verden?«. Det er de samme strukturer, vi lever under i dag. På begge sider«.
Kære fru La Vaughn Belle.
Vi vil gerne sige oprigtigt undskyld for Danmarks deltagelse i det brutale slaveri, ikke mindst for det grusomme børneslaveri og for slavehandlen."
Herunder links til tidligere udsendte mails omhandlende De Vestindiske Øer:
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/juli/06-07-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/maj/05-05-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/maj/22-05-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/juni/20-06-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/oktober/29-10-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/oktober/30-10-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2015/maj/19-05-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/juni/22-06-2016
Mange hilsener fra Daniela Skov og Lars Skov Krøgholt.
Se også: http://svfk.dk/kunstner/la-vaughn-belle
Det er utrolig skamfuldt på Danmarks vegne, at vor Statsminister Lars Løkke Rasmussen ikke rejser ud til de Vestindiske Øer sidst på måneden med det specifikke formål at overbringe en oprigtig og dybfølt undskyldning fra den danske stat, såvel som på vegne af hele nationen Danmark, for vor deltagelse i det brutale slaveri og i slavehandlen. Ja, for at påføre børn et liv i brutalt slaveri. Kan det tænkes at den manglende undskyldning skyldes, at der fra officielt hold er en frygt for, at der måtte være en forventning til Danmark om en medfølgende økonomisk konsekvens sammen med en mundtlig undskyldning?
Med venlig hilsen Daniela Skov og Lars Skov Krøgholt
ENGLISH
Article from Danish newspaper Politiken
http://politiken.dk/kultur/art5863591/Jeg-mener-faktisk-alle-burde-sige-undskyld
Artist from St. Croix to the Danes: Indeed, I believe everybody should give an apology
Denmark should do away with its ' colonial loss of memory ' and its slave past, the artist La Vaughn Belle from St. Croix believes, who now opens a solo exhibition in Copenhagen. It is necessary for us to heal past traumas, she says. Otherwise are allowed to affect the present.
CULTURE 9. MAR. 2017 AT 09.40.
After heavy rains they come up. Of the ground, on the beach, in the gutter. Old shards of white porcelain with blue flowers. Small blue fluted china relics of the colonial era, from the days when the three Caribbean Islands Saint Croix, Saint Thomas and Saint John were under the Danish colonial rule.
The broken fragments are what is left of the fine china, Danish plantation owners from the end of the 1700-century, had sailed to their big houses on sugar plantations, so they could eat in style, while slave-made women, men and children toiled in the fields outside. In brutal, inhumane conditions.
The local people call the fragments chaney – a mixture of china and money, for previously children in the islands collected china fragments and used them as play money.
LEDGERS FROM A LOST KINGDOM
The exhibition ' Ledgers From a Lost Kingdom ' by La Vaughn Belle opens Friday March 10.
It can be seen in the exhibition house Meter, Henrik Rung's Street 25, CPH. up to 17. June
So the artist La Vaughn Belle tells, who lives on Saint Croix, and which she uses in her art.
“They are everywhere. And it is an interesting metaphor of colonization. Small stories that continue to return. As if they never intend to disappear”.
La Vaughn Belle is in Denmark to prepare for her solo exhibition ' Ledgers From a Lost Kingdom ', which opens tomorrow at the exhibition house Meter at Nørrebro (Copenhagen). She is also to participate in several other exhibitions, events and debates in the context of the 100th anniversary of the sale of Danish West Indies to the United States, and now she and I are sitting in a white-painted workspace in the National Workshops for Arts, which she has been given access to.
This is the third time La Vaughn Belle is in Denmark. And the three stays have given her the experience of a country which is still marked by colonial ways of thinking.
Unlike you, we do not have the opportunity to forget the 250 years since the Islands were Danish colony. That time affects every aspect of our lives
La Vaughn Belle believes that all Danes should take a reckoning with the past. She does not demand anyone, but she thinks it would be appropriate if we give an apology for Denmark's participation in slavery and colonialism in the Caribbean.
In her art, La Vaughn Belle is fascinated by how colonial tools and structures can be transformed, so that they can be used in resistance, she says.
“China is a symbol of wealth. The rebels went into the big houses and smashed the china and all the fine things that plantation owners had bought for money they had earned on the slave-made’s work. So, that narrative is in it as well“.
Around her neck hangs a necklace with a pendant of silver and wood. It is a knife like those the slave-made field workers used to chop sugar cane with in the plantations. And which at the same time were the knives, the slave-made workers used as weapons, when they resisted.
The first time La Vaughn Belle was in Denmark, in 2008, she visited the Royal Copenhagen's House in the main pedestrian street in Copenhagen. Here she found a chronological exhibition of historic china plates that went all the way back to the 1700 's.
Photo: Jens Dresling
La Vaughn Belle in her art has used the small pieces of colonial china that pop out of the ground on The U.S. Virgin Islands after a downpour.
“ At that moment I understood that these pieces of china, which I had known since my childhood in the 1980’s on Saint Croix, were pieces of a larger story. It was an overwhelming experience, and it made me think about how we in the Caribbean have neither access to our full African, European or indigenous people’s identity. What we have are fragments. Which we have had to put together in order to create a new society “.
At the exhibition, La Vaughn Belles shows works that are arising out of the idea of how to create alternative ways to document history. When Denmark sold the colony of Danish West Indies to the United States in 1917, we took all of our documents with us.
“ Our archives were taken. My art works are counter archives, alternative ways to remember. Which also document the things in history that have been suppressed in the colonial archives, for example, the stories of resistance “.
Danish Colonial mindset
During her three visits to Denmark, it has shocked La Vaughn Belle, how little the Danes know about the time when we were colonial masters in the Caribbean. We suffer as a nation from a “ colonial loss of memory “, she says.
» When I meet people, and tell that I am from Saint Croix, there are many who do not even know what it is. You do not know of the history “, she said.
And it is not only with ordinary Danes, she is experiencing memory loss. Also, the institutions fail, she says.
“ The first time I was at the National Museum, I was actually shocked. It is, of course, where you are telling your national history. And then you put in 250 years of history in three small cabinets? This is really a part of history, you are failing to relate to “.
Last year Videnskab.dk made an April fool, where the magazine wrote that due to a special clause on sales treaty Denmark would be able to buy Danish West Indies back in the context of the 100-year of sales to the United States. As is this year.
“ When I was in Denmark last summer, several people were referring to that April fool and said: “ I believe in fact that we intend to buy you back. “ They had bought the joke, thought it was true, La Vaughn Belle says.
“ I had it like this: Sorry, buy who ? Who is it you intend to buy? However, what would justify you to do that? The impudence, the arrogance, the superiority, it is an expression of, it is really insulting. It showed me how many Danes are still marked by a colonial mindset. Otherwise it would be impossible to think like that “.
Last Friday, La Vaughn Belle attended a debate, which among other things was about immigration and integration in Denmark. It was a revelation for her, she says.
“ I could understand from the debate that many in Denmark believe integration is all about that the people who come here, must be just like you. They must adapt to you. It is a mindset that is centered around the Danish culture as superior. But listen, a meeting between people goes both ways. When you and I are sitting here facing each other, we should move each other “.
The rebels went into the big houses and smashed china and all the fine things
The realization of the slave era
La Vaughn Belle thinks it would be good for all Danish citizens to visit the Islands in the Caribbean, where she lives.
“ Unlike you, we do not have the opportunity to forget the 250 years when the islands were Danish colony. That time affects every aspect of our lives. The history is impossible to forget. From the Danish names of towns, to when you are down at the beach and looking up sugar plantations, lying as ruins “, she says.”
“ And we are still colonial citizens. We are Americans, but not real Americans. My children are in elementary school, where they learn more about American history than of the Virgin Islands ' own history. We have inherited a colonial political system that works poorly, and which makes it hard to improve things. There are so many aspects of our society that do not function “.
During the first visit in Denmark, it was a very different society, which met her.
“ I thought: Whoa, wait, everything is working here! The health care system, education system, your transportation system. The Western countries have exploited resources all over the world and been able to build a very comfortable society. And at the same time, I experience this unwillingness to acknowledge how you came here. It was not just your work, it was several hundred years of subjugation and exploitation of other people and their resources “.
What La Vaughn Belle experiences as a colonial loss of memory and displacement, testifies of a country that is far from the Denmark, we want to see us as, she says.
“ Denmark is projecting an image of itself as a progressive country, a country of science and a fair country. You have a conviction that you as a nation do things because it's the right thing to do. But would it then not be the right thing to recognize that you have harmed someone in the past? “.
La Vaughn Belle understood herself for the first time, that she was a descendant of slave-made Africans when she as a 12-year-old read the book ' Roots ' by Alex Haley.
“ That book made me understand why my family was landed here in the Caribbean. And it was a sorrow to me. I cried, so my eyes were about trundle out of the head of me while I was thinking about the men and women before me who have been alienated and disenfranchised slaves.
I could feel their pain. A pain, I did not know was in me '.
The world of whiteness
Her parents did not speak about slavery when she was a child and grew up in Saint Croix, where her parents had moved to from Trinidad and Tobago, when she was quite small. But at school, she had a teacher, a white American who drew the narrow space on the floor in which the slaves were assigned on board slave ships from Africa. Then he asked the children to lie down, shoulder to shoulder, and just notice the room. And then imagine how it would be to lie there for several months without being able to move. The experience set out in her as a profound realization.
Although La Vaughn Belle has dealt extensively with colonization and racism, through her yearlong practise with art, her own daughters of 8, 6 and 4 are still influenced by the past, she says. The family lives in a suburb of Christiansted on Saint Croix, in an area where there are the greatest number of black residents. Anyway, she has experienced that the daughters have wept over their curly hair.
“ Those are some of the things you go through as a black child. You want, that your nose is different, that your skin is light, that your body is different. We internalize the hierarchy between the races, which was established in the past. And when I see my daughters think like that – it is so hard for me “.
In the same way as La Vaughn Belle as being an artist herself has delved down into history, she believes that the Danes have a need to face our past as slave owners right into our eyes.
“ I mean, of course, that the Danish Government must apologize for slavery and colonialism. It is in its place. But, then, I believe, in fact, everybody should say sorry. I believe everyone should make it work inside themselves so past trauma can be healed, and the present can be free from them “.
A lot of people think that we should not say we are sorry for something that happened many years ago.
“ No, but that is, because they cannot see, that the colonial times are still impacting the world , we live in. With its injustices and odd structures. The world is centred around whiteness and western culture. Still. And you are in need of healing too. Because it is the same brutal mindset, which can make possible the brutality of slavery, that, is impacting your relationship to immigrants today, I believe. That is how I see it.” she says.
“ Denmark carried out some actions in the past, that were really harmful. And which are still causing harm. The natural is to apologize. “
Okay. Then I wish to say I am sorry to you, while we are sitting here. I wish to say that I am sorry for Denmark’s participation in slavery and the slave trade.
La Vaughn Belle is looking down at the table that is between us. Then she says quietly:
“ I accept your apology. “
After that the atmosphere is changed.
Do you think it is contributing to heal our mutual historical past, that I said, that I am sorry?
“ You know what ? I have actually never experienced before that someone did that directly to me. “
It was not something , I had prepared myself to.
“ Yes I believe this is contributing to bring healing. Actually, it felt like a sincere recognition. It became as a stage with you and me here. I felt that you had listened to that which I had to say - and that you could see the pain, I have talked about. Because I could see the same pain in your eyes. And I believe that is the encounters we need in order to change things.” Says La Vaughn Belle.
Listen up, when my daughter is looking out into the world she asks me: " Mummy, why do they never show pictures of people who look like me? " She wants to be a model and cannot see anyone who has curly hair like hers. What answer can I give her? It is because they do not think that you are beautiful? That I cannot say to her, she is 8 years-old. But I do not have to tell her that, because she knows that.
While we have been talking the sherds from a handful of blue-white chaney have been laying at the table. Like small stories of a past, that keeps popping up.
La Vaughn Belle sighs.
When people say colonialism is something of the past, I say: “ Excuse me, but have you looked out into the world? It is the same structures we are living under today. On both sides. “
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Dear Mrs. La Vaughn Belle.
We wish to bring our sincere and heartfelt apology for Denmark's participation in the brutal slavery, not the least for the atrocious child slavery and for the slave trade.
Below we link to mails we have previously sent out concerning the West Indies
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/juli/06-07-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/maj/05-05-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/maj/22-05-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/juni/20-06-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/oktober/29-10-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/oktober/30-10-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2015/maj/19-05-2016
https://sites.google.com/site/ytrings/2016/juni/22-06-2016
Kind regards Daniela Skov and Lars Skov Krøgholt.
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See also: http://svfk.dk/kunstner/la-vaughn-belle
It is very shameful on behalf of Denmark that our Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen is not traveling to the West Indies at the end of the month with the specific purpose, to convey a sincere and heartfelt apology from the Danish government, as well as on behalf of the entire nation of Denmark, for our participation in the brutal slavery and the slave trade. Yes, for our participation of exposing children to a life of brutal slavery. Could it be that the lack of apology from the official Denmark is due to a fear that there might be an expectation to Denmark of an accompanying economic impact along with a verbal apology? Why is the CHURCH in Denmark not the FIRST to say a heartfelt and sincere apology to the people in the West Indies?
Kind regards Daniela Skov and Lars Skov Krøgholt